Posted by on Apr 26, 2007 in A Gentle Axe, novels, R N Morris | 6 Comments

While the wheels spin … I’m reading.

One of the things they never tell you about becoming a writer, is that you’re going to have to deal with the books and stories of other writers. By which I mean, people you know, and like, will get stuff published – and you are going to have to go and read it and then say something about it. It’s only polite, after all!

But … oh, the big but! Suppose you don’t like it, or it’s badly edited, or you think it’s a thinly plagiarised version of another work that wasn’t much cop to begin with? You might think that’s not very likely – but the more you write, the more writers you meet, and the more you meet, teh more likely it is that you’re going – one day – to have to front up to a writer whom you love dearly but whose work you detest utterly.

What you do then, I don’t know. But I do know that this kind of fear goes through my head whenever I pick up a book or story by a writer I’ve met.

Today though, is not that day. I am reading A Gentle Axe by R. N. Morris. I know R. N., he’s bought me a drink – and let me tell you, it’s a huge relief and a great pleasure to tell you that I sat up until after midnight, reading this novel. It’s about as ambitious as it gets, given that it lifts the detective from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and puts him in the middle of a mysterious new murder case, but it works, it really works, and if I don’t finish the book tonight, it will be because an Act of God prevented me. So congratulations R N, and if anybody out there is looking for an atmospheric page turner … look no further.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gentle-Axe-R-N-Morris/dp/0571232051/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/026-5070159-6489234?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177602247&sr=8-1

6 Comments

  1. TitaniaWrites
    26th April 2007

    Very interesting point, Kay. But what about meeting a writer you don’t know whose work you reviewed not very positively? There was someone visiting here recently for a conference whose first novel I was rather scathing about in print… I stayed home most of the week in case I ran into her!

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  2. TitaniaWrites
    27th April 2007

    PS Congrats on being a finalist in the Uni of Hertfordshire vision short story comp! Just saw the shortlist http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/uhinfo/extrel/uharts_new/writing/writing.cfm

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  3. Kay Sexton
    27th April 2007

    Ha, the cat’s out of the bag then! Thank you Tania, it’s very kind of you.

    As for reviewing, I think you just have to accept this is part of the deal of being an honest writer. I did once write a review I thought was less than positive and the writer came up and thanked me in public; so perhaps any publicity is better than none? But I do also think that it behoves us to be accurate and err on the side of politeness, which, having read some of your work, I am sure you do. It’s one thing to say ‘this novel was not my cup of tea’ and another to say ‘this book was complete rubbish’. A lot of male reviewers seem to think a degree of testosterone-induced rudeness is necessary a la Jeremy Clarkson … presumably they have no problem sleeping at night, but I would!

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  4. Quillers
    30th April 2007

    I occasionally review books on my blog and I know exactly what you mean about reviewing work of people you know and like, Kay. I’ve been lucky in knowing some damn good writers. When reviewing the work of people I don’t know, I tend to bear in mind how hard it’s been for me to get published (and I still don’t have a novel out) so I try and respect the hard work and effort that’s gone into it, even if the novel isn’t my cup of tea.

    Of course, if the writer is dead, it’s much easier to be rude about the work 😉

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  5. Quillers
    30th April 2007

    Forgot to say congrats on being a Herts Uni finalist!

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  6. Kay Sexton
    30th April 2007

    You’re quite right quillers – the only problem is, the dead ones never ask you to review their work (mind you, what would it mean if they did? I see dead short story writers?) And thank you! I’m still a bit trying to get used to the idea myself of being on the shortlist.

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